Aprii. 2, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



77 



South America, as these exhibit a very simple social or- 

 ganisation, but I do not wish it to be understood that I 

 consider all other human societies were necessarily 

 evolved from similar societies t« that which I described. 

 It may have been so ; on the other hand, there is to 

 mv mind no reason why pastoral or agricultural com- 

 munities mav not have independently arisen in some 

 cases from a stage of simple exploitation of natural 

 resources. This I would regard as an earlier stage than 

 that of hunting, employing that term to indicate the 

 quest of beasts, birds, and fishes ; whereas in what may 

 be termed " simple exploitation ' the natural vegetable 

 products of the forests and jungle form the greater 

 portion of the sustenance of savages at this primitive 

 grade. 



I now propose to describe the social condition of 

 perhap.-; the most permanent and stable of all simplo 

 societies — that of the pastors. The materials for this 

 study have been gathered from a series of articles by 

 M. P. Bureau, in '' La Science Sociale," Vols. V. and 

 VI., as well as from a paper by M. E. Demolins in 

 Vol. I., and from other sources. At present I am not 

 concerned with the manner in which the herding of 

 cattle may have arisen, but with the life of pastora' 

 peoples on the steppes of Asia, and of these the Ka!ka.s 

 may be taken as typical, as it is generally admitted 

 that these people ai-e veiy pure representatives of the 

 Mongolian race, and have maintained the old stjie of 

 life. 



Environment. — The country inhabited by the Kalkai 

 is the northern portion of the great Central Asiatic 

 plateau. It forms an immense basin, of which the 

 border attains an altitude of 13,000 to 16,000 feet, and 

 in places much higher still. It extends from 

 latitude 45° N. to 51° N., and from longitude 

 90° E. to 120° E. This ai-ea has an extent of about 500 

 miles from north to south, and 1250 miles from east to 

 west ; it is bounded on three sides by mountains, and 

 on the south by the Ganghin Daban hills, which protect 

 the fertile plains to the north from the inroads of the 

 sand of the Desert of Gobi. 



One can understand that in a country so clearly cir- 

 cumscribed its inhabitants can more easily retain the;'* 

 primitive character, foreign influences penetrate with 

 difficulty, and the whole people will presei-ve their 

 homogeny and similarity of customs. 



The altitude de*^ermines the peculiar cliinate, which is 

 inordinately cold, snow persisting on the ground dunng ;r 

 greater part of the year. Thus we have the two charac- 

 ters of a steppe — (1) the production of grass; {2^ the 

 more or less complete exclusion of other vegetation. 

 This is caused by a short season of humidity regularly 

 intervening each year between a barren winter and a 

 summer, the dryness of which stops the growth of all 

 vegetation. This intermediate season suffices for the 

 growth of grass but is insufficient for the young shoots 

 of trees. 



Le Play has pointed out that the snow persists on the 

 plain after it has disappeared on the slopes of the same 

 region, owing to the heat of the sun in early spring 

 melting the superficial snow, and the water filters down 

 into the deep layers, when it freezes in the night and 

 forms a more compact and resistant layer. At length 

 the time arrives when the snow has vaniihed, the soil, 

 thoroughly soaked with water, is suddenly exposed to an 

 already elevated temperature. The grass grows imme- 

 diately with an extraordinary rapidity on the incompar- 

 ably fertile plain. 



In several days in the spring the grass grows as hig'' 

 as the waist, and were it not for the dryness and heat 

 of the summer it would everywluno attain the height 

 of a man, as it docs in favourable spots ; but soon its 

 roots become dry, and the grass lies flat on the ground 

 until the return of spring Having noticed tiiat the 

 old grass smothers that which is sprouting, tlio Kalkas 

 sometimes set fire to it at the advent of spring The 

 fertility of the soil resembles that of the famous " black 

 earth " of Russia and the " yellow earth " of China 

 The fertility is increased by the abundance of water. 



These conditions, so favourable to the growth of grass, 

 are by no means advantageous for agriculture. The soil 

 i.-> fertile enough, but, owing to the altitude, the climate 

 is too severe for grain to ripen. 



Winter extends for throe-fourths of the year, tiierc is 

 practically neither spring nor autumn, tropical neat 

 succeeds without transition to arctic cold. Hue states 

 that in the country of the Kalkas the cold is so teirible 

 that during the greater part of the winter the mercury 

 of the thermometer freezes. There are also extra )rdinary 

 diurnal changes of temperature, and consequently great 

 atmospheric disturbances and tremendous sto^-ms arise 

 both in winter and summer. No wonder then that suc'i 

 20od agriculturists as the Chinese have failed to cuU;vate 

 the soil. 



The seeds of trees spread over the plain before the 

 winter season do not remain inert; sometimes ihey 

 even germinate before the grass ; but they rarely raise 

 themselves to a height of above four inches. Sooa 

 swamped in the grass they are stifled, or, at least, 

 blanched. Those that preserve some traces of life are 

 killed by the blazing sun, which, having withered th.^ 

 grass, makes itself felt on the parched ground. Thi*! 

 embryo forest perishes annually, because it cannot find 

 ill the steppe either the necessary room for growth or 

 sufficient rainfall ; but in favourable positions thet'e are 

 forests of pine, fir, larch, and black birch ; the aspen 

 and cedar are rarer. In any case the wood is of '^oor 

 quality. 



The most important animal of the steppe is the horse. 

 Wild horses ai-e spread over the whole region, and are 

 so active that they escape from the arrows of the most 

 skilful hunters. Often they move in compact troops, 

 and when they meet tamed horses they surround them 

 and force them to take flight. Cattle and sheep are 

 very numerous, and Nature not only provides them with 

 abundant fodder but has spread salt in profusion all 

 over the country. The Kalka sheep are especially 

 famous. The camel and dromedary are scarce ; the 

 pad of their feet is badly adapted for walking on the 

 harsh crust of the snow. They arc only used as beasts 

 of burden. 



There arc a few wild as.ses, boars are found in the 

 wooded western districts, and wild goats sometimes 

 ■-ppear in immense flocks. There is other game, such 

 as deer, antelope, hares, birds, etc. These ai-e auto- 

 rjiatically kept in check by bears, tigers, and wolves the 

 latter being the worst enemy to man. 



Occupation. — From the foregoing account it is 

 evident that the population has only two methods of 

 sustenance — hunting or herding. In the analogous 

 prairies of North America the Red-Skins adopted the 

 former mode of life, or perhaps it would be more correct 

 to say that the absence of the horse compelled them to 

 hunt bison; but in Asia the presence of the horse ren- 

 dered it possible for the Mongols to tend large herds. 

 Mr. T. W. Atkinson describes his first visit to a 



